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the great pop-sci book project

I recently received an email from a grandmother asking for book recommendations for her gifted granddaughter, who shows considerable talent in math and physics. That request, plus the recent book meme floating about teh Internetz listing some of the great books in Western literature got me thinking about compiling a similar meme thing for popular science books. The emphasis here is on "popular": books that are engaging and accessible to a truly general reader, ideally with a strong narrative component. (Weighty tomes delving into the minutiae of a given field need not apply, although one must make a few exceptions for books that were truly influential.)

In an ideal world, of course, one wouldn't need to compile a separate list for science-y books, because the Powers That Be that decide such things would have greater knowledge of, and respect for, the many talented writers out there who choose to write about science. While we're waiting for our long-overdue integration back into the general bookworld -- and broader culture at large -- to take place, I took a superficial inventory of the many books on science scattered about our apartment and compiled the following working list. We have some obvious biases -- physics, math and science history, with the odd foray into forensics and chemistry -- plus, a few notable fictional works that have a history of inspiring present and future scientists. (I also asked my pal Lee Kotther for a few of her suggestions.)

Alas, many of my books are still in storage. So I know I'm missing many significant titles. But one has to start somewhere. Ergo, I offer the following popular science book list, in no particular order. The rules, as always are simple:

1. Highlight those you've read in full2. Asterisk those you intend to read3. Add any additional popular science books you think belong on the list4. Link back to me (leave links or suggested additions in the comments, if you prefer) so I can keep track of everyone's additions. Then we can compile it all into one giant "Top 100" popular science books list, with room for honorable mentions. (I, for one, have some quirky choices in the list below.) Voila! We'll have awesome resource for general readers interested in delving into the fascinating world of science!

0. Principia, Isaac Newton

Oh, just kidding. Granted, it's an influential work that pretty much founded modern physics, but has anybody read the Principia in its entirety lately? Really? How about De Revolutionibus? If so, do you not have a life? Seriously, Newton would turn over in his grave in horror at any inclusion of his masterpiece in a list of popular science books. Which is why I'm starting with....

For Feynman there's a recent hardback that contained both Surely You're Joking and What Do You Care What Other People Think? which is a really good deal. Also, depending on the age of the granddaughter, if she's really interested in physics I'd highly recommend Feynman's QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. This book really shows Feynman's genius as a teacher. He explains the theory of quantum electrodynamics using no more math than an average high school student should understand. There are basically no equations in the entire book. It's really not a Pop-Sci book as such, but I honestly don't think that Feynman would have been offended for it to be included on the list.

Oh, and I'd also probably want to add at least one of the books from Martin Gardner's 'Mathematical Games' series. They're excellent reading, containing his columns from Scientific American back when it was a science magazine and not a political advocacy one.

I've read The Demon-Haunted World, Stiff, Teaching a Stone to Talk, and, um, most of The Language Instinct.

I'd add to the list: Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals, by Frans de Waal, and The Ape and the Sushi Master, by Frans de Waal.
Also, The Variety of Life, by Colin Tudge. Contains a good rundown of cladistics.
If we're including Annie Dillard (and why not, though her theological musings may be off-putting to some,) how about Pilgrim at Tinker Creek?

Some non-physics suggestions:
"Uncle Tungsten" by Oliver Sachs is awesome.
You should read "Basin and Range" and "Assembling California" by John McPhee, preferably before the next earthquake.
"Last Chance to See" by Douglas Adams.

Nice list! I would add, "Bones, Rocks and Stars: The Science of When Things Happened," by Chris Turney. I also suggest, "The Prism and the Pendulum: The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments in Science," by Robert Crease (i.e. the other book about 'beautiful experiments').

Thank you for compiling this list of books. This is by far the most exhaustive list of general physics literature available.
I would add
The character of Physical Law, Feynman
even if it might scare the layman.

The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus, Owen Gingerich (more a history of science, but wonderfully researched & written)
The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction, David Quammen
Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind, David Quammen
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution, Richard Dawkins
The Whale and the Supercomputer: On the Northern Front of Climate Change, Charles Wohlforth

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, by Richard Feynman
The Character of Physical Law, by Richard Feynman
The Cartoon Guide/Cartoon History series by Larry Gonick and co-authors
Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, by Isaac Asimov
Atom, by Isaac Asimov
The Book of Numbers, by John Conway and Richard Guy
Connections, by James Burke

I'm midway through Douglas Hofstadter's I Am A Strange Loop, and I'm enjoying it much more than Godel, Escher, Bach. I mean, I'm motivated to finish this one, when I never bothered to go all the way through the other. The recent anthology edited by Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, has many strong selections, although it's pretty heavy on biology and physics.

The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes
both Guns Germs and Steel and The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond
anything by Bruno Latour
The Science of the Discworld by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen

(I almost missed that The Language Instinct was on your list and was going to tentatively suggest it since I wasn't sure if the subject matter was suitably scientific, guess my question's been answered!)

When I was in junior high school, being an avid science fiction fan led me to a series of books that had a huge impact on my life -- "popular science" books written by Issac Asimov. I'm pretty sure they were out of print when I was reading them -- I found most of them at a used book store I used to frequent -- but they were terrific! He did a number of them on a wide variety of science topics, and I remember they were engaging, clear without being sophomoric, and fun to read. If I could find them again I'd love to have a set for my daughter -- and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone!

Newton's "Principia" is indeed anything but popular but you could have included his "Optics" which is a great read and is regarded as a classic of English literature. As a lady I'm surprised that you didn't include Patricia Fara's "Pandora's Breeches: Women: Science and Power in the Enlightenment". Equally good on demolishing the solitary genius myth is Clifford D. Conner's "A People's History of Science. Miners, Midwives and 'Low Mechanicks'".Two great reads are Matthew Cobb's "The Egg & Sperm Race: The Seventeenth-Century Scientists Who Unravelled the Secrets of Sex, Life and Growth" and Peter Gallison's "Einstein's Clocks and Poincaré's Maps: Empires of Time". Last but not least, and I could go on for hours, is an absolute classic Jacob Bronowski's "The Ascent of Man".

Great list. I'd add these:
Woman: An Intimate Geography, by Natalie Angier (biology)
The Power of Babel, by John McWhorter (linguistics)
Genes, Peoples, and Languages, by Luca Cavalli-Sforza (the controversial intersection of biology and linguistics!)
The Decipherment of Linear B, by John Chadwick (little-known but excellent linguistic mystery/novel/biography)

Physics Cocktails

Heavy G

The perfect pick-me-up when gravity gets you down.
2 oz Tequila
2 oz Triple sec
2 oz Rose's sweetened lime juice
7-Up or Sprite
Mix tequila, triple sec and lime juice in a shaker and pour into a margarita glass. (Salted rim and ice are optional.) Top off with 7-Up/Sprite and let the weight of the world lift off your shoulders.

Any mad scientist will tell you that flames make drinking more fun. What good is science if no one gets hurt?
1 oz Midori melon liqueur
1-1/2 oz sour mix
1 splash soda water
151 proof rum
Mix melon liqueur, sour mix and soda water with ice in shaker. Shake and strain into martini glass. Top with rum and ignite. Try to take over the world.